Just plain wrong

A lot of times I don't like to write about or to defend the faith that I have because, well, I could be wrong about how I am defending it. I recall reading about a particular experience that C.S. Lewis had that gave him great pause about believing that he was any sort of philosopher and caused him to soften the language in his books (Miracles in particular) quite a bit. Apart from the fact that I am under no illusion that I am any type of philosopher or deep thinker I can understand the pain that he had and share it at times. However, in thinking about the dialectical approach and the progression and, hopefully, strengthening of thought from one person to the next, it seems like my fears are either more or less made up, or they rest somewhere else. I would like to think that if someone had a problem with what I would say or a particular vein of argument that I took supporting or criticizing someone or something that they would approach their objections calmly and with civility. We are all in a journey together towards answering ultimate questions and I have something that I can learn from an atheist as much as they have something they can learn from me as a committed Christian.

I guess what gets to me is the vitriol and even insults that fly when someone is taking a hard stand using a less-than-adequate foundation. I do not have a thick skin and, quite frankly, love it when someone shows me a different way to approach something with an all to great amount of love, patience, grace, and even mercy. I hate yelling and I am not even sure that "hate" is a strong enough word.

So, yeah, I guess some people can shut me up quickly if they go down a path where there is a bunch of cussing and spitting over something I have said. I know it shouldn't be and I have had flashes in my life when that wasn't the case at all, but by and large if that is a persons modus operandi then they won't hear me for a long time. And maybe that is to their benefit. But what if it isn't? That is the only thing that keeps me going on like I do.

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